detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) and her best friend, Dr. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander), dressed in their pajamas in the kitchen, caring for an infant like doting married parents. Only the baby belongs (or so we suppose) to Rizzoli's not-so-organized brother, Tommy (Colin Egglesfield), and his on-again-off-again girlfriend, who just abandoned the baby on Rizzoli and Isles' doorstep. Whatever the circumstances, Rizzoli and Isles seem to be eager to raise the child as a family, or as part of some extended unit.

For the uninitiated, Rizzoli, played by the impossibly good-looking Harmon, is the tomboy of the couple -- or rather, the pair. Isles is the intellectually snobbish girly-girl. Much like Dr. Temperance Brennan on "Bones," Isles projects an

academic detachment from

ordinary life so she can better master mortuary science.

When not discussing domestic issues, the banter between the two women often revolves around corpses or the gross stuff found inside them. Isles offers up her findings with a combination of pride and icy

detachment; Rizzoli responds with wisecracks and an air of blue-collar practicality.

In the season's premiere, a cadaver betrays signs of a possible contagion, sparking a code-red. The women, as well as a hunky corpse-delivery guy, must retreat into a safe room, where they are required to shower in each other's com-

pany. The scene offers ample

opportunities for the limber Harmon to exhibit her talent for physical comedy and for the handsome stranger to show absolutely zero interest in the two women. What is he seeing, or not seeing?

Not to give too much away here, but a citywide plague is averted and a major crime is solved, all before we return to the baby and scenes of domestic tranquility, with Rizzoli and Isles making plans about future holidays, vacations and family milestones with the new bundle of joy.

The ambiguity of the Rizzoli and Isles' relationship is clearly intended and skillfully played out. They're like the Bert and Ernie of forensic detectives. The decision to keep things

between them deliberately un-

labeled is very much like the show itself, and perhaps its

audience. It's decidedly, even

audaciously, old school.

---The heist drama "Lever age" (10 p.m., TNT, TV-PG) also returns for a new season, set in a big-box store rigged with explosives.

---Tonight's holiday specials include one of the very best of the season, the 1966 animated fantasy "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-G), narrated by Boris Karloff.